Will Hormone Therapy Help Prevent Long
The benefits and risks of hormone therapy vary depending on a womans age and her individual history. In general, younger women in their 50s tend to get more benefits from hormone therapy as compared to postmenopausal women in their 60s. Women who undergo premature menopause are often treated with hormone therapy until age 50 to avoid the increased risk that comes from the extra years of estrogen loss.
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Healthy Fats For Healthy Hormones
Good fats are used by the body to produce hormones and also reduce inflammation. Healthy fats include those found in olive oil, flaxseed, avocado oil, nuts, seeds, and nut butter and can easily be added to any meal.
Flaxseeds are particularly beneficial as they contain lignans, a type of phytoestrogen that helps to balance oestrogen levels by supporting healthy levels and ridding the body of spent oestrogen. They can be added to smoothies, porridge, muesli, and soups.
Do You Ever Find Yourself Saying This
- No matter how much I exercise or eat right, I cant lose this excess weight.
- As Ive been getting older, my metabolism has slowed and I keep gaining weight.
- Once I lose the weight, the fat comes right back to me.
If you can relate to the above, you may be suffering from a hormonal imbalance.
As a Nurse Practitioner, and a Doctor with experience in weight management and bioidentical hormone therapy, I can tell you firsthand that your weight affects your hormones and, on the flipside, your hormones affect your weight. So, which came first? The chicken or the egg? Its kind of hard to tell, but there are things you can do to help both at the same time and lead to a leaner body and put your hormones back into balance. Even if youre going through menopause, you can help relieve hot flashes, weight gain, and other symptoms of menopause by changing your diet.
First, its helpful to know what hormones are, what role they have in the body, and what the major players are.
So, what are hormones? And how to balance your hormones to lose weight? Hormones are chemical messengers that are made in the body and are responsible for almost every bodily function. We cant survive without them! Without hormones, we would never experience hunger and may possibly starve to death. Without hormones, we wouldnt be able to make babies and mankind would end. Crazy, isnt it?
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What Causes Hormone Imbalance
Virtually everyone experiences imbalanced hormone levels at some point in their livesparticularly us women! These imbalances are often a result of natural changes that occur with age, such as puberty and menopause. When you were growing up, hormones triggered bone and muscle growth. They also set in motion the reproductive changes that led to menstruation and fertility in young women, and sexual maturity in young men. This surge of hormones is behind the acne, mood swings, and other teen issues that affect most adolescents.
How To Balance Your Hormones Naturally
1. Reduce Your Sugar IntakeConsuming high amounts of processed sugar and refined carbs like pastries, candies, ice cream and soft drinks can lead to insulin resistance, along with other health issues like obesity, heart disease and type 2 diabetes. When your body gets tired of receiving the signal that your blood sugar is high, it becomes less responsive to it and can lead to inflammation in the body and increased production of testosterone in the ovaries. This can lead to symptoms like irregular periods and acne. Reduce your processed sugar intake as much as possible and focus on a diet high in whole foods, fruits and vegetables.
2. Low Intensity ExerciseStress, illness or lack of sleep can play a part in elevated cortisol levels. Its your bodys main stress hormone and works with certain parts of your brain to control mood, motivation and fear. When your cortisol levels are high, it can result in anxiety, headaches, trouble sleeping, weight gain and even heart disease. Low intensity exercise can help lower elevated cortisol levels. Yoga, pilates, walking, slow jogging, swimming, and low intensity fitness classes are excellent cortisol-conscious workouts.
If youre dealing with symptoms of hormone imbalance, try these tips to balance your hormones in a natural, healthy way.
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When Are Female Hormone Tests Not Useful
While female hormone testing can provide some insight into your symptoms, there are some instances when testing is not indicated.
- Diagnosing menopause: The ovaries change during the transition to menopause, so hormone testing shouldnt be used to diagnose menopause . As the authors of one 2007 review explain, The current standard of care is to individualize hormone therapy based on symptom relief and side effect profile, not on laboratory results [75
- Trusted SourcePubMedGo to source].
Natural Ways To Balance Your Hormones
Hormones are chemical messengers that have profound effects on your mental, physical, and emotional health. For instance, they play a major role in controlling your appetite, weight, and mood.
Typically, your body produces the precise amount of each hormone needed for various processes to keep you healthy.
However, sedentary lifestyles and Western dietary patterns may affect your hormonal environment. In addition, levels of certain hormones decline with age, and some people experience a more dramatic decrease than others.
However, a nutritious diet and other healthy lifestyle habits may help improve your hormonal health and allow you to feel and perform your best.
Here are 10 natural ways to balance your hormones.
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Supplements To Balance Hormones
Hormone balance is one of the most common reasons patients pay me an initial visit, and a common question is whether I recommend supplements to balance hormones. In recent years, focus on womens health has gone from just a yearly PAP smear and breast exam to discussion around optimal health and wellness. Women feel empowered to talk to their health care providers about topics that were previously perceived as normal- things like painful periods and PMS symptoms which includes cravings, mood changes, acne, and changes during perimenopause. Seeking treatment for hormone balance means that women are finally able to start the journey to optimal health and complete wellness.
I thought I would take some time to discuss some of my favorite herbs, nutrients, and nutrition options for hormone balance.
However, choosing supplements for hormone balance isnt always cut and dry. Depending on why your hormones are imbalanced can mean that is it time for a different treatment plan.
Is It Possible To Balance Hormones Naturally
Yes. There are scientifically-backed ways to balance your hormones naturally and without medication. For example, certain dietary and lifestyle changes can have a profound impact on hormone levels and how your body functions.
However, its important to note that not all hormonal challenges can be resolved naturally. More serious endocrine conditions, such as polycystic ovarian syndrome or hypothyroidism may require medical intervention and/or medication.
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Managing Your Hormones With Our Obgyn In Lake Success
Its important to regularly visit your obgyn in Lake Success to ensure you have healthy hormone production and good lifestyle habits. Your hormones are involved in almost all aspects of your health. They need to be in good standing for your body to optimally function and feel good. Contact Women for Women today to schedule your appointment and get your hormones balanced and feeling right.
Youve Lost That *spark*
If youve ever felt like youve lost that special something, your zest for lifeand your partnerthen you know what Im talking about. Maybe its a shift in energya change in your Qior perhaps situational factors like high stress, or the life of a busy mom. Either way, the last thing youre interested in is your hubby winking at you from across the dinner table.
Having a healthy sex drive is a really important marker for hormone health . This is because the hormones that regulate libido, like estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone, also regulate your mood, sleep, mental health, and metabolism. If your libido has gone missing for an extended period of timeits time to find out why.
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Biohack Your Way To Better Sleep
When life is busy, often the first thing we sacrifice is sleep. Sleep or rather inadequate sleep quickly throws our body off balance. This is why its one of the first things our doctors ask about when patients come in for their initial visit. In a small study testing the impact of prolonged sleep restriction, participants that slept only 4 hours versus 10 or 12 hours experienced an increase in ghrelin, a hormone responsible for appetite regulation, alongside a decrease in leptin, a hormone responsible for communicating satiation. For many of us, 10 or 12 hours might be hard to achieve. Thats why here at Parsley we recommend getting at least 8 hours of sleep per night. The benefits of adequate sleep will not only increase your glucose metabolism and leptin concentrations but increase your bodys secretion of growth hormones responsible for cell reproduction and regeneration, which all take place during periods of rest.
How To Balance Your Hormones With Exercise
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When it comes to working out, more is more, right? Actually, wrong. Too much exercise might actually wreak havoc on your hormones. But how would you even know if your hormones weren’t, in fact, ticking along perfectly? Okay, picture this: You’ve been hitting it hard at the gym but just not getting the results you want. Or, is that excess fat just not budging, no matter how many HIIT sessions you rack up on ClassPass? The likelihood is that your hormones are out of sync, according to our experts.
Hormones are chemical messengers that keep our bodies in a happy state of equilibrium. Unfortunately, crossed wires and miscommunications happen, and before you know it, your hormones are all over the place, and you’re drowning your sorrows in vats of wine and ice cream . So what causes our internal communication system to go haywire? It could be work stress, a high-sugar diet , or even too much exercise.
Jenni Rivett is a personal trainer who has built her method, Body by Rivett, around boosting beneficial hormones and suppressing the less beneficial ones . Dr. Amy Lee is currently board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and is a member of the National Board of Physician Nutrition Specialists and the American Board of Obesity Medicine. We called on Rivett and Lee to explain the different hormones worth knowing about and how they affect us, plus how the right exercise can get everything back into balance.
Meet the Expert
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How Are Hormonal Imbalances Treated
Treatment for a hormonal imbalance will depend on whats causing it.
If you have lower-than-normal hormone levels, the main treatment is hormone replacement therapy. Depending on which hormone is deficient, you may take oral medication or injection medication.
For example, if you have low thyroid hormone levels , your provider can prescribe synthetic thyroid hormone pills. If you have growth hormone deficiency, youll likely have to take injections of synthetic growth hormone.
If you have higher-than-normal hormone levels, there are many treatment options depending on the cause. Options include medication, surgery, radiation therapy or a combination of any of these.
For example, if you have a prolactinoma, a benign tumor that causes excess prolactin , your provider may prescribe a medication to shrink the tumor or you may need surgery to remove it.
How To Balance Hormones Naturally
1. Swap Carbs for Healthy Fats
Foods that balance hormones include a variety of fat-containing foods that provide short, medium and long-chain fatty acids. Your body needs various types of fats to create hormones, including saturated fat and cholesterol.
Not only are these essential fats fundamental building blocks for hormone production, but they keep inflammation levels low, boost your metabolism and promote weight loss.
Healthy fats have the opposite effect of refined carbohydrates, which lead to inflammation and can mess with the balance of your hormones.
My four favorite sources of anti-inflammatory, healthy fats include:
- coconut oil, avocados, grass-fed butter and wild-caught salmon.
- Coconut oil uses are plentiful for example, coconut oil has natural anti-bacterial and fat-burning effects.
- Avocado benefits include improving heart health, lowering inflammation, controlling your appetite and contributing to your daily intake of fiber and nutrients such as potassium.
- Salmon nutrition is also impressive: its one of the best sources of omega-3 fatty acids, which are known to lower inflammation and help with cognitive functions. Omega-3 fatty acids are a large component of brain-cell membranes and are important for cell-to-cell communication in the brain. Research shows that omega-3 fatty acids help protect against hippocampal neuronal loss and reduce pro-inflammatory responses.
2. Supplement to Fill Nutritional Voids
3. Address Emotional Imbalances
6. Get More Sleep
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How To Use Exercise To Balance Hormones
As you can probably tell, getting your hormones back to good or optimum levels is a balancing act. “While intense workouts improve your body chemistry, including levels of HGH and testosterone, you have to keep cortisol in check,” explains Rivett. A HIIT class after a stressful day at work is probably the last thing you need. A typical workout week needs to be structured correctly to impact all the hormones positively, Rivett tells me.
High-intensity training can be used to your advantage, increasing beneficial hormones. “Types of exercises with different impact and intensity have shown to increase more of certain hormones. There is data that shows that high-intensity training or resistant training helps improve the production of testosterone, which helps with building and maintaining lean muscle mass,” adds Lee.
Steady-state exercise has its merits as well, particularly when it comes to mood regulation Lee explains: “Cardio such as speed walking and running can increase overall dopamine and serotonin for an overall sense of calm for better night sleep and even just mood elevation. People have reported sleeping better after a good walk throughout the day.”
A Healthy Diet Is Key
When it comes to getting all the essential macronutrients and micronutrients necessary to balance hormones, we should always turn to food first. Supplements are great, but theres no substitute for good, whole foods the ones that come directly from the Earth, just as nature intended. Your endocrine system needs certain foods, which contain specific nutrients, to do its job. Lets see which ones those are!
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How To Balance Your Hormones Naturally: 7 Tips For Women
Hormones are your bodys chemical messengers and they affect many aspects of your overall health. When your hormones are unbalanced, it can lead to symptoms ranging from irregular periods to gastrointestinal issues to irritability and brain fog. Hormonal imbalances can be caused by a combination of factors including diet, medical history, genetics, stress levels and exposure to environmental toxins. If youre experiencing symptoms of unbalanced hormones and are wondering how to balance your hormones naturally, weve rounded up 7 helpful tips to get your health back on track.
Improve Your Liver Health:
Every hormone in the body is made from fats and proteins assimilated and released by the liver. When the liver gets bogged down with medications, toxins, debris and other metabolic waste it cannot keep up with the production and elimination of the hormones in the body. This lack of detoxification and formation of hormones results in hormonal imbalances. Enhancing liver health is vital in many cases to correct hormonal imbalances. This is done by improving the levels of nutrients that help with detoxification and the formation of hormones.
The liver uses a process called methylation to eliminate metabolized hormones from the body. Poor methylation can lead to increased levels of estrogen and is a sign of reduced detoxification capacity. Methylation also plays a role in the production of antioxidants, production of neurotransmitters, , and melatonin . You will notice in the patients test results below, compromised methylation
One study performed by the JNCI of Monographs published, The tissues of women with breast cancer may have 10 to 50 times the level of plasma concentration of estrogen. This suggests estrogens are not properly detoxified, and therefore, accumulate in the breast tissue. These levels will increase the risk of breast cancer. There are hundreds of articles that illustrate that cancer can be caused by estrogen, but this study points to the fact that estrogen causes cancer if it is not properly detoxified.
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How Diet Affects Hormones
What we eat affects the production of hormones and their signaling pathways. “Our hormones like healthy fats, like olive oil, avocado, nuts and seeds, as well as ample fiber from fruits and vegetables and quality proteins like eggs, fish and meat,” says Melissa Groves Azzaro, RDN, LD, PCOS, hormone, and fertility dietitian at Avocado Grove Nutrition. In contrast, pesticides, alcohol and artificial sweeteners can negatively impact hormones.
You need enough calories too. “Women’s bodies especially are very sensitive to scarcity. If your body doesn’t feel like it’s getting enough, it downregulates production of sex hormones. Your body doesn’t know the difference between a war or famine or a new weight-loss diet you’re following,” says Azzaro.
Incorporate Stress Reduction Techniques
No surprise here. Stress causes your body to go into fight or flight modeits just the way were wired. And when were stressed, cortisol rises. In turn, elevated cortisol affects your hormones, including ovulation. Chronic stress can lead to late periods. From stress-relieving yoga poses to stress-reducing teas, there are a variety of ways to bring more om into your life. Making time to de-stress does wonders for your mind, body, and hormones.
Image by Michelle Nash
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